Bonds and friendships
by WintersWolf
Summary: The training has begun! Hinata and Naruto face off and prepare eachother for their next chase after sasuke.
1. In memory of a friend

A/N: A Revised Version! : o! I'll re revising two and three also, and uploading four soon enough ^^

Chapter 1: In Memory Of a Friend

"Sasuke!" Naruto called to his former friend. The iris in his eyes burned a crimson red; his pupil taking form of that which resembled a fox's eye.

This was his third encounter with Sasuke that Naruto knew would end in a fight. But he knew it had to be done if he were to bring Sasuke back to the village. He had to prove that at least someone in Konoha was strong enough to be worth his time. That was the only way to get through to Sasuke.

Sasuke turned around, facing the friend the friend he abandoned 4 years ago. His eyes quickly ran over Naruto and he gave his usual "Hn," before his back was once again turned on the blonde whom had just summoned his attention. Team Hebi continued down the forest path that they were on, and now ignored Naruto.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called again, not about to allow this disrespect. Sasuke looked back again with a chuckle when his dark orbs rested on the sight of the Rasengan that Naruto held, showing that he was reading to attack. With a sigh of boredom, Sasuke pushed off the ground, his step infused with chakra- allowing him to vanish, and end his step inches from Naruto. In what seemed like moments passing, Sasuke had cleared ten feet, and buried the tip of his blade in Naruto's wrist, holding his hand that held the Rasengan off to the side. Naruto gasped once air filled his lungs, the breath he was holding finally being released. Blood trickled down the blade that continued to send what felt like fire pulsing through his arm.

"You're form of attack, Naruto, is pathetic." Sasuke taunted, before plowing the soul of his foot into Naruto's chest, kicking him back a couple of yards and pulling himself into the air at the same time. In the air, Sasuke turned and re-sheathed his sword as he lightly landed onto the surface of the earth.

"You got your revenge on Itachi! Now come back to the village! Remember?! You wanted to restore your clan after your revenge! This is your chance!" Naruto yelled, climbing back to his feet and grasping the wound that still burned, even with the torchful-blade removed. He wanted to get some sense into Sasuke's head, do something to get his best friend back. He didn't know what else he could try. Listening to reasoning was never what Sasuke was best at.

Sasuke laughed as the blond hair boy rose to his feet. Naruto gazed into Sasuke's eyes, being sure to not once remove his gaze from his. This would be an all out fight. He would not let Sasuke get the best of him this time. He just _had_ to win! Naruto formed a hand seal in front of his chest that signified his signature move. "Kage bunshin no Jutsu!" as this technique was summoned, numbers of clones appeared behind him. These clones pulled out kunai knives and prepared to attack Sasuke and the other members of Hebi. This time, Naruto, too was serious about fighting Sasuke. It wouldn't be like any of the other times. He wouldn't allow himself be caught off guard, he vowed it to himself. There would be no holdbacks. There would be no questioning his motives of fighting the Uchiha.

Suigetsu stepped forward, Guillotine sword assembled, ready to fight and Aid his leader. Sasuke glared back at Suigetsu- and with that look alone, Suigetsu knew from the shiver of fear that ran down his spine that he was to back down.

Sasuke turned back to Naruto once he knew that his message of solitude in the fight was understood He took a stance, and with one word, the same word that broke their friendship so many years ago- Sasuke started the fight. "Come," Sasuke readied himself as he prepared to fight the blunt number of clones "Naruto!" he finished as brandished his sword and awaited for the army of clones to come at him.

As predicted Naruto and his clones closed in on the Uchiha preparing to go all out. As the clones approached him, Sasuke swung his sword in awing skill and grace, in seconds he had dispelled the clones easily, or so he made it look. Within moments, Naruto was left fighting solo, once again. '_Kuso..._' Naruto cursed in his head as he stared Sasuke down, unsure of his next move now. He started looking for an opening. If he could prove that he had grown, then maybe he could convince Sasuke to come back, or so he had hoped.

Sasuke however wasn't going to give him a chance to find an opening. He quickly charged at Naruto, his sword having bolts of chidori dancing gracefully off of it. Naruto focused his chakra, waiting for Sasuke to strike. Once in range, Sasuke buried his sword deep into Naruto's chest, causing him to collapse instantly. Naruto lay on the ground, fighting to breathe, clutching his wound, which still stung with a glow of chidori crawling throughout it. Soon he became limp, lifeless. He no longer breathed, no longer fidgeted or fought.

Sasuke sheathed his sword, turning his back and sighing in disappointment. Naruto had become even weaker than the last time. Sasuke found it beyond pathetic, until he didn't even take a step before dirt shot up at him, shrouding the fist of a blonde hair boy- whom Sasuke so quickly assumed he had defeated. Naruto rose from the ground, delivering a jaw-shaking punch to Sasuke, knocking him airborne, then delivering one more punch, and slamming this rival to the ground. "Doton: Shinjuu Zanshuu no justu!"

Sasuke stood up, annoyed that the head hunter technique was used on him by not only Kakashi, but now even the boy he was always so superior to taunted him with it. Sasuke looked over to the slain Naruto, which was now only a log. As he turned back to Naruto, his eyes scoped in on the newly formed Rasengan. He quickly reacted; [_Ushi-sagi-saru_] He performed the three handseals as the sound of chirping birds echoed into the air and the appearance of the chidori exploded in his hand. Naruto was already charging, inches away from his target. Suddenly a sharp pain surged throughout his body.

'_D-Damn it… What… just happened?_' Naruto asked himself upon the impact of his back hitting the earth below him. "Chidori Nagashi!" he heard Sasuke call.

Naruto had shot backwards, hitting the ground and rolling backward in a few summersaults caused by his momentum. Once he heard Sasuke, he quickly regained balance and glared him down. He had decided that he was going to handle this by using the training that Gamakichi and him endured together in the past year. The blond Shinobi bit his thumb and spread the thick, red liquid that flooded the surface of his skin thoroughly across the sweaty, warm palm of his opposite hand, then went in to a series of hand seals [Inu-Hitsuji-Saru-Tori-Buta] "Kuchiyose no jutsu!" Naruto yelled as he slammed his hand with blood on the ground. Black seals spread from his hand, infecting the ground around him which was followed be a poof of smoke. When the smoke cleared, a small orange toad, who, unlike normal, was fully armored, and carried two miniature sized Katanas at his disposal stood in the center of the transmutation circle. "Hey boss!" the toad called, leaping on Naruto's head as he observed the situation and opponent they was facing.

He didn't even need to ask questions as he lay his eyes on Sasuke, he already knew what was going on. Gamakichi brandished his two swords, and Naruto quickly channeled Chakra throughout his amphibious companion, and the blades that he wielded. This gave them a sharp, piercing edge of wind chakra, which would be much more affective than just the swords alone. Sasuke glared, analyzing what his opponents were doing. Naruto had surely grown, he could see that, but there was no way this was the Naruto he knew.

The Naruto he knew never had enough ability to wear the vest of a chunin. Nor did he have this much chakra control, he studied him more thoroughly, eyes narrowing. '_he can even channel his chakra through another network...damn, he's changed!_' Sasuke couldn't believe this was his former teammate, who was always so pathetic. Naruto and Gamakichi grinned in unison. Naruto formed his clone handseal, creating 3 clones of both him and the armored toad.

The clones stepped forward as the Gamakichis jumped off their heads toward Sasuke, wind blades drawn. Naruto's clones followed this raid by taking in deep breaths, focusing chakra with this and releasing the Fuudan, which was first used by the Shukaku. Three fuudans followed the toad clones, targeting the Uchiha that they were fighting.

Sasuke dodged each blade that was swung at him, dispelling the toad clones without any trouble. The array of Fuudan approached Sasuke as he jumped, spinning in the air and landing with the wind bullets behind him. He landed on one knee, palm to the ground to prevent any damage from impact. It seemed even a pulled muscle would be trouble against Naruto now.

Naruto had grown, and Sasuke knew this. To show that he acknowledged Naruto's growth, his eyes slowly slid closed- re-opening in a flash and revealing his Kekki Genkai, his Sharingan. Naruto smiled at this sight. He understood what it meant. Sasuke finally realized the strength that Naruto contained. This made him anxious to continue fighting. If he continued to push more and proved more growth- maybe Sasuke would come back!

Naruto stepped forward, the three clones turning into smoke as they were dispelled. The gaze of the Uchiha's Doujutsu… The Sharingan… this was indeed something special for Naruto. He took great pride in this opportunity and decided that Sasuke deserved the same respect. His eyes slipped shut, copying Sasuke- only whence they had shot open, the essence of Kyuubi was once again visible.

Without wasting any time the two shinobi sprinted towards each other, fists drawn back. They collided with Sasuke holding back Naruto's fist with one hand, and throwing his own with the other. The blond haired boy mirroring him in corresponding movements. The two challenged each other's strength staring deep into one another's eyes. They suddenly broke their clash and jumped back, Sasuke throwing shuriken, Naruto knocking them away with a drawn kunai knife. As soon as they felt the ground beneath them, they broke into another sprint towards each other. This time, they sparred with adept forms of taijutsu. Sasuke did a roundhouse kick as Naruto instinctively grabbed his ankle that was flying at him. Thinking quickly, Naruto spun Sasuke by his ankle, throwing him, and appearing next to him quickly, giving two open palm thrusts and then a full weight punch to the spine. Sasuke, trying to recover, realized that Naruto had rendered his attempt useless by slamming his face into the dirt, holding him in a chokehold with a kunai up to the back of his head.

"Sasuke! Are you ready to come back yet?!" Naruto questioned as he placed pressure on the kunai, slightly cutting into the back of Sasuke's head open. The crimson liquid dripped down Sasuke's neck, onto the ground as he replied with a "Hardly."

Sasuke propelled his lower body in a fashion that caused him to kick Naruto off of him, regaining his ground and jumping up, looking down on the stubborn ninja. Naruto stood swiftly, noticing the black markings that had appeared on Sasuke's arm and face. By now he was familiar with this, for Sasuke had used it in their fight before he left for Orochimaru. The curse mark. Naruto's most hated tactic of his most hated enemy. The blond boy cursed Orochimaru. It was because of him that these two were in a fight this serious, and it was his fault that his bonds with Sasuke were broken. A red chakra started pouring out of Naruto's chakra points, soon becoming a feint aura. Deep depression filled his eyes with memories he shared with the Uchiha that he was so violently going at, causing the Kyuubi's chakra to spread further. Sasuke grinned as he took in a deep breath, shooting out a projectile of fire. Naruto came inches from being hit as he suddenly vanished into thin air, appearing above Sasuke and taking in an equally deep breath. In a moment Naruto released a second shot of Fuudan at his opponent, who so effortlessly cut through this attack with a flame-engulfed sword. Sasuke and Naruto grinned at each other. They were both starting to enjoy this, for it is exactly how they wanted it; no talk and all action.

Naruto charged at Sasuke once more, only to have Sasuke do the same. [Ushi-Sagi-Saru] Sasuke performed his famous three hand signs and chidori broke from his palm. Naruto instantly formed a perfect rasengan, having the ability to use his technique without any clones now. As the two collided, the attacks cancelled each other out; causing extreme tension in the area from the amount of chakra that was produced. The two jumped back as the ground that they were standing on fissured and rose about half a foot due to the chakra tension.

Jugo, Karin, and Suigetsu quivered from the shock wave that splashed over them that was aroused from the colliding attacks that the two ninjas had just previously wielded. "These guys are… pretty scary" Suigetsu pointed out as his teammates nodded.

The two shinobi stared each other down, out of breath, sweating from exhaustion. Sasuke thought to himself that it was quite impressive how much Naruto had grown. He hadn't enjoyed himself, nor had any emotion other than emptiness since he left team seven. As he realized this he gave his usual "Hn" and straightened himself out, making sure he was in a respectable stature. Naruto knew he was about to reach his limit, but had one final trick he desperately wanted, no, needed Sasuke to see.

"Sasuke! Now I'm gonna show just how much 'power' friendship and bonds can give someone!" Naruto yelled as he formed a handseal [Hebi]. Naruto now lowered his voice to almost a whisper "In memory of my best friend…" he said performing more handseals [Tora-Saru-Ushi-Uma-Tora]. Sasuke quickly realized the jutsu that was coming for this was his own family's specialty. Without knowing this jutsu, Sasuke would never have been able to call himself a true member of the great Uchiha clan! Naruto inhaled deeply, holding his breath in his aching chest for a few moments. Whence Naruto released this breath, flames roared from his mouth toward Sasuke, taking form of a fireball as it got in his range.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu!" Naruto cried as the flames raged in Sasuke's direction. He had put everything he had in to learning this jutsu, for it was the one Sasuke had used so frequently in their time together. And because he trained so hard to learn this jutsu, in memory of Sasuke, he had put everything he had into invoking this attack. Sasuke distracted by the shock of Naruto knowing this jutsu snapped back to reality when he felt the heat of the flames that Naruto had poured his heart and chakra into. Even with dodging, Sasuke felt the graze of the burning flame of will and despair.

The Uchiha strove to catch his breath whence he was back on the ground, eyes wide with surprise and amazement at the fact that Naruto had just performed the Goukakyuu, whom was now lying on the ground, collapsed from using so much chakra. A raindrop landed on Sasuke's face. A light sizzle came from the water hitting Sasuke's exhausted body. He looked up to see the sky as a light, cool, rain started fluently flowing down from the gloomy gray skies above.

Sasuke eyes narrowed from the combination of the splashing of the rain and the exhaustion as he looked over at Naruto, wondering why he would still care so much about him like he did. Could it truly be those bonds of care and respect that gave him so much power? Was it his bond with Sasuke that had aided him to learn that Goukakyuu? It had to be. Otherwise his respect for his father would not have given him the power to learn it himself when he was a kid. Sasuke now focused on moving out before the jinchuuriki awakened; fore if he didn't there would be a rematch of that fight sooner than Sasuke wanted.

_**Several hours later**_

Kakashi, Sakura, and Sai landed on the ground next to the unconscious Naruto. Kakashi picked up his student's limp body, soaked from the rain that still fell from the sky and fastened him on his back. The three nodded and jumped into the trees, headed back for the Konohagakure, their home, the place where they could safely and accurately give Naruto medical attention. Recover him from the fight that he had just gone through.


	2. Those last words

_A/N: revision of chapter two! ^.^_

Chapter 2: Those last words

Sasuke and his team stopped short, being careful not to startle their unsuspecting target. The young Uchiha peered out from behind the tree to check if they had noticed or not. Safe. He held a hand up to his comrades, telling them to hold position, and that he would go on ahead. Sasuke vanished from his position, appearing behind his target with his sword held to its neck. "Don't move." Sasuke demanded.

A kunoichi that looked to be about fifteen turned to see Sasuke, flinching from his sword being right up to her face. She stood about five feet, six inches tall, and had a very slim figure. She had long blond, wavy hair that she had let fall into it's own style. She had deep auburn eyes, which seemed to tremor slightly at the sight of the Uchiha that stood before her. Around her thigh was a headband, with a scar across the middle of the plate, showing she was a rouge ninja. The headband read 'leaf', which made the others curious of why Sasuke would seek her out.

"Sasuke-kun?" the girl questioned "is that you?"

Sasuke withdrew his sword, sheathing it and looked at her, nodding, "yes, Tsume, it is." He replied.

Now the other members of Hebi appeared, Suigetsu speaking "Sasuke! What are we doing chasing an ex leaf shinobi around?" Sasuke just glared in his direction, warning him to mind his words.

Turning back to Tsume, Sasuke explained to her why they had sought her. As he explained that he wanted her in Hebi, Suigetsu complained again "first we seek her out, and now you want her to join us?! Oh no! This has gone on way too far!" Sasuke now held his sword to Suigetsu, charging its blade with the threat of chidori.

"You're more annoying than Naruto!"

Suigetsu's eyes widened "how dare you insult me like that?!"

Sasuke just ignored him and continued conversing with Tsume.

Konohakagure

"U-um… Excuse me?" a girl approached the secretary's counter, hardly talking above a whisper, her fingers pointed together sheepishly.

"Yes? May I help you, Ms. Hyuuga?" one of the secretaries replied.

"Y-yes… I was wondering which room Naruto is in."

The secretary slightly giggled at Hinata's shyness and how predictable she was "I saw that coming. Naruto is in 281. And, Hinata, between you and I, he's been asking if you've been in,"

Hinata blinked with the crimson shade that engulfed her face as she thanked the secretary, bowed, and walked down the hall, searching for the wing the lead to Naruto's room. As she walked, she tried to compose herself, though to her disappointment, when she found his room, she had no avail.

She approached his room, feeling a sweat bead roll down her face and the crimson shade that engulfed it growing darker. She hastily got a hold of her self and knocked gently on his door. She could hear Naruto's voice, which came in somewhat a sleepily tone, call from the inside.

"Come in,"

Hinata opened the door, seeing Naruto all wrapped up in bandage. Fainting was certainly crossing her mind, but she tried to withstand it, and took a step into his room. Naruto, seeing Hinata, gave his normal smile and greeted her in his normal hyperactive way. This gave some relief to Hinata's urge of fainting. He was happy to see someone whom he recognized so briefly after waking up, and he had specifically been waiting for her anyway. Little did he know, she knew this.

A long awkward silence filled the room as the two of them waited in the room, Hinata wanting to speak, Naruto wondering what to say. After a while longer of the silence, Naruto realized that Hinata was still just standing there, holding the flowers that she brought.

"Oh! Hinata, sit down." he scooted over a bit, making room for her on his bed. "There, you can sit here if you want" he invited warmly.

Hinata walked over to him as she hesitantly sat on the bed, putting the flowers in a vase on his windowsill "T-thank you, Naruto"

The two sat there, as silence once again took over. Hinata looking up at him then back down every so often, and Naruto… well he just sat there and grinned. Hinata was the first to speak this time. "So, what happened with Sasuke-kun?" she asked curiously.

"Huh? Oh, well he took off again... But I think I gave him a real shock with my fire ball jutsu!" Naruto replied, his grin growing wider. "And next time, I'm really gonna bring him back! I don't care if I have to pass out a thousand times from exhaustion! I made a promise and I'm gonna keep it! Dattebuyo!" He continued, throwing his fist into the air then letting it drop again.

Hinata giggled slightly at his determination that always inspired her. She gazed at Naruto for a long moment, Taking in his roughed-up blonde hair, his sparkling blue eyes. Her eyes quickly ran over his toned, wrapped-up chest then back to the whisker-like streaks of hair on his face. Then came the question that had come to mind several times before he had left this time. "Naruto," she paused.

"Yeah, Hinata? What is it?"

"Well, I was wondering if I could, possibly, go with you next time. If that's ok I mean!" she asked hesitantly. She peered up at Naruto from behind her hair, fearing him to be offended, or upset, when she sooner realized that he was grinning again

"Yeah! That'd be great! The more the merrier!" Naruto agreed, laughing excitedly "Actually, I've been kind of waiting for you to come here so I could invite you along…" He continued "Of course we'd have to train together a lot, and work really hard, but I'm sure we could do it! Dattebuyo!" He finished, almost leaping up out of his bed this time.

"Really? That's great, thanks Naruto!" Hinata suddenly said, and for once being almost as loud as him.

_**Hebi. Later that night.**_

Sasuke sat up against a tree as his teammates slept in their sleeping bags. He stared at the ground, spacing out, thinking.

'_How did he learn the Goukakyuu? It was Naruto. He couldn't possibly be that powerful._' Sasuke eyes narrowed. The truth was: Naruto _had_ become that powerful. He _had_ learned the fire ball jutsu. And he _had_, once again, taken Sasuke by surprise with his growth. ' "_You got your revenge on Itachi! Now come back to the village! You wanted to restore your clan after! Remember? Well here's your chance!"_' for some reason, this had provoked thoughts of 'her'. "Sakura…" Sasuke spoke quietly. What was this? He had abandoned all this when he was with Orochimaru. These bonds shouldn't matter to him. So why? Why was he remembering Sakura? '_If you must leave, then I'll go with you if I have to! Just please don't leave me! Sasuke!_' he remembered those last words she spoke, as she stood there pleading and crying for him to stay. His eyes narrowed again. '_Damn it! Why should I care? I'm done with them. Those bonds are of no use to me anymore!_' Sasuke cursed inside his head. ' "_What's going on? What are you?" Sasuke questioned, shielding his face as water sprayed past him, smoke and splashes fading to reveal a single tailed fox Naruto. "I'm your friend! And that's why I won't let you go to Orochimaru! Even if it means that I have to break every bone in your body! I'm bringing you back!" Naruto called emotionally_' Sasuke gave a "Hn" and threw a kunai knife in the ground before him, which he was using to carve a peace of wood to pass time. Foolish Naruto, he was still pathetic, even with Goukakyuu. What did Sasuke care? He still had far better skills than just Goukakyuu. But still, Naruto knowing it in memory of him still rang in his mind.

Sasuke continued carving wood as he stared at the fire that had been set up for their night's campsite. '_Naruto'll come again. There's no doubt about that. And next time. I won't be taken by surprise. His new fireball jutsu won't be so unsuspected, and there's no way I'll have to panic. Naruto, next time I won't even come close to losing to you!_' as Sasuke thought these words, he threw his new kunai knife at a tree, glaring in its direction.

"Who's there?" he demanded, Sharingan activated.

A familiar body stepped out from behind the tree and walked into the light, revealing Tsume. Sasuke relaxed himself as he saw her and gave a slightly annoyed "Oh. It's you."

"Yeah. It's me, so what? You seek me out, ask me to join your team and now you don't even want to see me. That hurts Sasuke-kun" she playfully frowned and teased him.

"And if I don't? You have the other's to talk to." He teased back.

She gave a slight huff. "Well they're sleeping! It isn't my fault you're the only one awake. Hey wait a minute, why are you awake Sasuke?" she realized.

"Interested?"

"Not particularly,"

"Then don't ask,"

"Well it isn't exactly normal for one to be awake and staring at a fire in the middle of the night, unless something's on their mind. Sheesh, sorry for asking."

"What should it matter?"

"I don't know. Oh! Maybe it's because we're from the same village, so I've known you as a child and maybe I'm just slightly worried about you." She replied sarcastically. "You were one of my best friends after all!" she finished, now giving a slight sigh.

Sasuke sighed as well as they continued their conversation throughout the night, hoping that she'd eventually stop talking and go to bed.

_**Naruto.**_

Hinata knocked gently on Naruto's door before silently stepping in before a reply came. She rested her eyes on the blond haired boy that rested peacefully in the hospital bed that was before her. She couldn't stop herself from letting out an almost silent giggle. Naruto actually looked at peace. He wasn't jumping around, he wasn't angry, sad, hyper, anxious. He was calm, and it brought satisfaction to Hinata to see him this way.

Hinata smiled to herself once more as she walked over to the windowsill, placing a small box of chocolate down. She looked over at Naruto once more before stepping out of the room, closing the door behind her.


	3. Let the training begin!

Chapter 3: Let the training begin!

Naruto looked at his clock that read 12:03. Ugh. He couldn't sleep, and he hated it because he felt tired from lying around so much. Though he coped with it, he'd have to. Besides he got out of the hospital today, and that's when Hinata and him could start their training. Hinata, it was weird, the more he worked with her, and went on missions with her, the less he thought of her as weird, and the more he looked at her with a higher perspective. She had come such a long way, and he couldn't deny it… he was deeply impressed by her. He grinned at the thought of her. And now: she was going with him to get Sasuke back, there was no way they'd fail this time, he just knew it! He looked back up at the clock. 12:17, time was crawling and he hated the wait. He wanted to hurry up and leave, start training with Hinata and prepare for Sasuke's retrieval.

Naruto opened his eyes and quickly looked at the clock. 10:28, he didn't take a second look before jumping out of bed and gathering clothes to get dressed.

"Damn! I'm late!" he yelled as he hurriedly got dressed, throwing his Johnny on the bed and ran down the hall to the counter. He checked out quickly, then broke into a sprint towards the training ground where he was supposed to meet Hinata almost two hours ago.

She sat up against one of the logs waiting for the blond haired boy the she adored so much. She looked at her watch and noticed how late he was. She sighed, getting discouraged that he would come, yet at the same time kept faith that he would keep his word. It was Naruto after all. She sighed again only to see a cloud of dust approaching, containing Naruto running as fast as he could to get to Hinata's resting spot! She stood up; smiling at the sight of the knucklehead that was running, and yelling sorry for being late. Approaching her resting post, he placed an arm across the log, resting his head on his forearm to catch his breath. "I'm here. Sorry for being late, Hinata." He said between gasps of breaths. After being able to breathe again, he sat down next to her, resting the back of his head on the log and looking over at her, waiting for her response.

"That's ok Naruto-kun! At least we can still do training" she replied, smiling, and blushing at the same time. It wasn't like she could find it in her to be mad at him.

Naruto grinned and nodded, standing up, taking the hint that she was ready and walked a few yards from their resting spot. As he stopped walking, he turned, holding up the fist that he had when he swore on her blood to avenge her in his fight against Neji. Still grinning he double-checked if she was ready, and was glad to hear that she was. Hinata stood taking a couple steps toward Naruto and activated her Byakugan, taking the Hyuuga pose. Naruto held his hands to his side and stared her down, stating that he wanted as little holdbacks as possible. This was the first step to their training: figure out each other's weaknesses and strengths. They both agreed to the terms and started their sparring.

He started by formed his famous hand seal as he called out his jutsu,. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he called, creating clones and charging for Hinata. She quickly reacted as chakra formed around her hand, dispelling the clones one by one with her gentle fist style. Though she quickly disposed of a number of clones, four had surrounded her all performing the same hand seals [Hebi-Tora-Saru-Usu-buta-Uma-Tora] "Katon! Goukakyuu no jutsu!" the clones called out as they released their blasts of fire at the Hyuuga girl that stood in the middle.

She brought two fingers up in front of her face as the eight trigrams appeared. Following the eight trigrams, the flames that came in range slowed to a crawl, barely approaching her at all now. "Hakke! Rokujuu Yonsho!" Hinata called out as she started using her eight division's absolute defense. In angelic grace, Hinata began almost dancing in place, bending and wielding her chakra perfectly to smother the flames. Once the flames were gone, she knelt, her palms on the ground then jetted off of the ground, Her dance now being performed in mid-air, attacking the shadow clones. All Naruto could do now is stare in awe. He had seen this jutsu before, but never had she used it like this, and never had he been so awe-struck.

Almost instantly all the clones had been dispelled. She glanced around, Making sure that all the body's had vanished, not one remaining. This could mean one thing, not a single one was Naruto. She jumped into a back flip as she felt the ground beneath her tremor. As she landed, Naruto, who had just come up through the ground, peered over her, slightly impressed that she saw his Doton coming. He grinned while wiping the sweat of his face and preparing for another go. He unzipped his jacket, revealing a plain black shirt underneath it, which was also noticeably soaked. Katon and Doton had no affect on her, so there wasn't much option left. If he wanted to prove himself of working with her, he'd have to resort to strongest jutsu. He held his hand out as chakra started forming and spiraling in his palm. He decreased the pressure in the sphere and grinned at Hinata.

"You ready for my Rasengan, Hinata?"

She quickly took a stance and replied "come, Naruto!" Activating her Byakugan.

'_This chakra, he has such control over it. But there are gaps in the sphere; it's almost as if he's trying to maintain a low pressure. Naruto, you're holding back._' she let out a sigh as she gathered chakra in her palm. Naruto charged at her, Rasengan at his side. Hinata waited for him to get in range, suddenly sidestepping towards the outside of the hand holding his Rasengan and tapping the tenketsu, breaking his control over it. As the Rasengan broke, she instantly twisted herself, repositioning herself right up against his chest and elbowing him full force to the chin, sending him airborne. Before Naruto had landed Hinata appeared next to him, letting him fall and holding her palm right above his chest, smiling as she had forced him into submission

Naruto eyes widened as he looked at her "Hinata… that was amazing,"

Hinata instantly turned red and looked down at him, breaking her perfectly composed stature. "U-um… thank you, Naruto-kun".

After a few moments of lying on the ground, Naruto pulled himself up and he let our an exhausted sigh, still amazed at Hinata's Taijutsu, and grinned "well I think I've had enough for today. Anymore and my ass would end up kicked harder than it already is!" he stated with his usual laugh

"But Naruto-kun, you held back on that jutsu, why?"

Naruto walked over to a tree as he turned to her. "Because, As full powered Rasengan would be over kill if you didn't counter me like that. Watch, I'll show you what I mean." He formed a Rasengan and lowered its pressure, slamming it against the tree. As he hit the tree, the tree bark shattered and splintered, forming a spiral crease from where he hit, spreading throughout the base of the tree. Hinata looked at the tree examining the result, thinking that it looked rather painful, and was glad she dodged it. Naruto spoke again "that's what I would have used on you. This is Rasengan at its full power." Naruto now formed a second Rasengan, keeping the rotation and pressure sturdy. Hinata activated her Byakugan, instantly noticing the difference in the jutsu. Naruto held the Rasengan to the tree, and gently started pushing the sphere into the tree, which drilled around it, removing a chunk in the tree twice as large as the sphere itself. He turned to see Hinata's eyes widened in amazement of the power, and gave a grin, satisfied that he had actually amazed her for once. "That's why I couldn't use it's full power on you." He slightly teased.

After he was done with his demonstration, he looked at the setting sun, walking over to the shoreline of the pond that the sun sat over, and took a seat. Hinata, sitting beside him, noticed how close they were sitting and smiled to herself. Finally, a time with Naruto where she could just have a memorable moment that she had wanted for so long. Then tomorrow it was back to training.

"Hey Hinata, you want me to walk you home? It's getting kind of late, and I kind of owe you for being late." Naruto suddenly asked, breaking the silence that had overcome them in the preceding moments.

"Yeah, that'd be nice, thank you Naruto-kun" she quietly replied, seeing him standing now.

Naruto offered his hand to help her up. Blushing deeply, she gazed up at him and almost forgot that he was offering her his hand. When she snapped back into reality, she slowly took his offer and pulled herself up off the ground. The two started walking toward the village, silence shrouding them again. Finally, though, this wasn't an awkward silence. It was a calm and relaxed silence between two companions who had just got down with a long day's training. During their walk, Naruto ran through his mind for ways of beating Hinata and impressing her further, ideas for tomorrow's training, and for once, just strategizing. '_She's grown up so much since the first Chuunin exams…_' he thought to himself.

Hinata's crimson shades that burned her cheeks only deepened from being so close to Naruto. How did it come to this? The boy she loved for so long was finally walking her home. She thought she'd never see the day, and almost didn't want it to end; though, like all good things, it was about to. She gave a small smile to her self '_who knows, maybe tomorrow he'll offer it again_' she thought to herself as they approached her family's house.

They stood in front of her door; Hinata, looking up at Naruto, thanked him as he gave his departing words. He gave her one last grin and turned to go home, Hinata entering her house.

'_Hinata, you've become really amazing. I can't wait to train with you tomorrow, I know I can learn a lot from you._' With those thoughts, Naruto left for his home, back to where there was no one but himself. Depressing as he found it, he didn't care anymore, he was more eager for the morning, and home was where he could go to make the wait seem so much shorter. Home contained a bed, and that invited sleep.

"I'm home!" Hinata surprisingly called to her family, taking off her shoes and walking into the living room to see Neji and Hiashi drinking tea.

"Oh Hinata, welcome home." Her father welcomed

"Thank you, father," She replied quietly

"How was training Hinata-sama?" Neji asked

"It went really well! Though we only did sparring today, I actually won! Now tomorrow we're starting on combo attacks, getting to know each other more so we have no flaws as a team, and soon, we'll be ready to go after Sasuke and bring him back!" Hinata replied excitedly, "Naruto-kun wasn't able to touch me," She finished with a wide grin.

Hiashi and Neji smiled. Her father set down her cup and stood up, walking over to Hinata and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I'm proud to call you my daughter. However, it's getting late, you'd be smart to go to bed, it sounds like you have a busy day tomorrow."

Hinata stood there in awe to her father's words and simply nodded, giving her goodnights and going up to her room. '_He's…proud to call me his daughter…I can't believe it…_' she smiled to herself, wiping her eye of the tears that had silently formed. For the first time, Hiashi accepted Hinata, and was proud of her. This truly was the greatest day she could remember.

_(A/N: Now I can work on chapter four ^.^ That shouldn't take too long, I'll have it up in a day or two. Read and Review!)_


	4. His Dream, Her Love

A/N: Chapter four! ^^ The wait is over

**Chapter 4: His Dream, Her Love**

Two kunai knives collided in the air. Naruto stared at Hinata, breathing rather heavily. He couldn't believe it; this girl was far more amazing than he had ever thought. Her precision was almost flawless; she was extremely flexible, and skilled at dodging, and to top it all of, her Taijutsu was far better than he could ever hope to have. He felt bad for giving her such low credit before. He straightened himself out picking up the kunai at his feet that had bounced back from the collision.

Hinata on the other hand, was already prepared to charge in and attack him. This was great! She was finally spending so much time with Naruto. She almost couldn't believe that this was happening and the joy just made her want to push herself even further. Bringing herself out of her thoughts, she gripped her kunai firmly and ran at Naruto.

Naruto acted quickly, though not thinking as quick. He threw his kunai, only to realize as it flew toward her it was knocked away with ease, and she still charged. This wasn't good, now he was unarmed. '_Idiot…_' were his only thoughts to himself. He gritted his teeth, forming the shadow clone hand sign. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Naruto sent his clones in to attack, reluctantly realizing that this was going to turn into a redo of his fight with Neji in the Chuunin exams. Hinata continued her attack, running into the army of clones that had just been sent after her. She may have loved Naruto, but she surely wasn't gonna go easy on him. She couldn't afford it. It took her all but a few moments to dispel the attacking clones. She started to get concerned… this was becoming too easy, nothing that she expected from Naruto. She looked over at him, Byakugan absent.

Naruto took the next few moments to plan his attack. Ugh. This was just like his fight with Sasuke now. They both had the thought that they're eye techniques weren't needed to fight against him. He had to prove them wrong, starting with Hinata.

Got it! He'll use the Fuudan. Naruto held the sign of tiger as he took in a deep breath, launching a wind bullet at Hinata. She, once again, gave a swift reaction, side stepping the wind bullet. When she saw the second bullet coming towards her, she jumped, performing a front flip in mid air to escape the bullet, and to get closer to Naruto.

The young Ninja took in another breath, this one slightly larger than the past two. When released, he shot of three Wind bullets-this was his chance "Katon! Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" Naruto called, launching a giant fireball at Hinata, igniting the three wind bullets in its path. Hinata activated her Byakugan. As the flames grew close, she countered. It was perfect, Naruto walked right into her trap. Not only did he give it his all, but also he used the fireball jutsu, and now that it was in the range of her new jutsu, she was taking the chance to use it. The eight divisions appeared, as Hinata started performing what seemed like her protective eight trigrams at first, that is until the flames weren't smothering-but they were being manipulated by her. Naruto scowled at her, he had actually figured out what she was doing. She was taking the chakra in the fire, and using it to move it aside and bend it to her will. The crawling flames slowly moved aside, circling her, and staying in the eight trigrams.

Once finished, the fire stayed at Hinata's sides, still seeming to be manipulated by her. Naruto couldn't believe it. She had completely manipulated the fireball jutsu, and now it was in her possession! He made another tiger sign "Fuudan!" he yelled as he released a wind bullet at her, not thinking due to frustration. Hinata giggled slightly at Naruto's actions. She channeled her chakra all throughout the flames, using this to make a stream of fire, and aiming in the wind bullet's direction. As soon as the wind bullet was in the range of her trigrams, it ignited into a roaring flame that she also took control over.

Now Naruto was puzzled. What could he do against this? He screwed himself over the moment he used the fireball, and now he had to find a way to fix this error. He closed his eyes, contemplating his situation for a moment. Hinata just stood there, watching him-wondering what was running through his head. After a few moments he held his hand out, palm-side up, eyes still closed. "Rasengan…" he said, barely above a whisper. '_It's my only hope…_' Chakra appeared in his hand, and formed into a spinning ball-the Rasengan. His eyes shot open, his blood-red fox eye present and a grin spread across his face "Rasengan!" he repeated, running at Hinata with his ball of chakra. She once again formed a stream with the fire, and sent it in his direction, hoping to now ignite the Rasengan. As she did this, Naruto let out a slight chuckle. It was just as he had planned-now it was her turn to fall into a trap. He continued charging, slamming the Rasengan into the upcoming flames.

She gritted her teeth, trying to see if she had managed to ignite the new attack or not. Her Byakugan activated, allowing her to see that the spiraling ball still present. Damn! Naruto's plan was working! The flames started spiraling away from the Rasengan, hitting the ground, and smothering. He struggled to hold his attack for so long, but eventually all most all of the flames had been smothered. That is all except the ones close to Hinata, but they didn't matter, the most she could do with them is flame-based Taijutsu, and he could go against that without much of a problem. Hinata looked confused for a moment. This couldn't be right. The Rasengan was a wind based Ninjutsu, just like Fuudan. It should have ignited all the same-so then why? Why did the Rasengan smother the flames instead? Naruto smiled at her face, knowing for once that he had been a bit cleverer than another person had. "You're looking a bit confused there Hinata!" he called out triumphantly.

She looked at him "why didn't the Rasengan ignite?" she asked. Knowing she wouldn't figure it out without replaying the scene in her mind several times, and thinking about it hard.

"Simple. The Fuudan ignited, because it's just a chakra core and wind, formed into a giant ball around it and shot. The flames could ignite it no problem because it'd reach the wind, and the chakra wouldn't give it any resistance." He started to explain. She started to see where this was going. "Where as the Rasengan has a chakra core-just like Fuudan, but it also has chakra spiraling all throughout it. That, not only gave it a resistance against your fire, but also counteracted your jutsu. Once it hit your flames, it started drilling away at both your chakra, and my own, separating it from the flames, and smothering them-along with breaking your control." He grinned "My plan was flawless, Dattebuyo!"

Hinata could hardly believe it. He created that theory in a matter of moments. Looks like she misplaced her disappointments. But she was glad that she didn't have to be disappointed him. "Hinata. I have my own question" he stated.

"What's that Naruto?"

"The Fuudan. How come you couldn't take control of that without igniting it?"

"Oh. It's as you explained earlier, the Fuudan only has a core of chakra, and the rest is all wind. My jutsu took the chakra of your flames, and manipulated the chakra to my will, and the flames just simply followed our chakra, where as if I tried taking control of the Fuudan without burning into it with the fire, then I'd be hit before I got the chance. By combusting it, the chakra core is broken, and instead the chakra channels through the flames," She explained.

"Ah. Now it makes sense" Naruto stated obviously.

"Would you like to continue Naruto?" Hinata asked

He looked at her with a playful smile "And what? Have my Rasengan used against me next time? No. I'm good for today. Besides, we'll probably use up all of our chakra if we continue."

She gave a slight giggle at his prediction. "Alright then, what now? It's still early. We could probably do another form of training or something," she suggested, not wanting to depart for the day just yet. It was only mid afternoon, and she was starting to get used to spending all day with him-suddenly departing this early would leave her bored and lonely for the remainder of the day.

"Nah. Not right now at least. I was actually thinking about lunch, would you like to go to Ichiraku? My treat!" Naruto replied, being hungry from the training.

Hinata blushed almost instantly. Lunch with Naruto, him even paying-did he really expect her to say no? "That sounds great Naruto," She replied.

Naruto smiled. "Hinata. You're becoming less shy," he pointed out, which only made her blush more.

Now that he mentioned it, she realized that he was right. She could talk to him without stuttering and even have been going at him full force this whole time. She had made him laugh a few times, and just becoming comfortable around him. Finally she was becoming closer to Naruto, even comfortable around him. She was becoming less afraid of messing up in front of him. And now he was even offering her lunch. Asking to go after Sasuke with him was the best decision she had made in a while, or at least in her opinion.

Naruto placed a bowl on the top of a stack of what everyone had guessed was his tenth bowl. Hinata, still working on her first, looked at Naruto half-surprised. "Naruto, slow down, you might get sick," she said quietly.

"Are you kidding? I never get sick, when it comes to Ramen I'm invincible," he said, being cut off by his stomach hurting, throat feeling like it was closing up and his chest on fire. "Ok! Point taken!" Naruto yelled, grabbing his stomach, flopping down onto his seat.

"Naruto! Are you ok?" Hinata asked worriedly

"Fine, Water!"

"Oh!" Hinata quickly grabbed her own glass of water and handed it to him anxiously, worried.

He quickly gulped the beverage down, hoping to wash out the fast-eaten noodles "Ah. Better" he said, letting out a sigh of relief a moment later.

Hinata giggled at the previous moment now that he was ok "I told you, Naruto." She stated, still giggling a little.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." He replied, glaring at her playfully.

She placed her first empty Bowl next to Naruto's, stating that she was finished. Naruto decided that he was too and asked for the bill. Once paid, he thanked Ayame and her father, and left the shop with Hinata. They both looked up at the distant, dark cloud that was approaching and sighed in unison.

"Now what?" Hinata asked

Naruto thought for a minute. He didn't think he was ready for more training just yet. Besides, he figured if they were going to go after Sasuke together, they'd need to accomplish more than just knowing each other's strengths and weaknesses. They'd need a bond, a friendship. To be able to know how one another thought and reacted to things, what went through each other's minds. How else would they work well together? How else would they become the perfect team? He didn't think they could. "Why not," he paused "Why not just go back to the training field and relax. You know? Sit somewhere and just talk" he suggested.

Hinata almost lost herself in space when this was suggested "that sounds… nice Naruto," she replied, looking away to hide the flush in her cheeks.

"Then let's go!" he said, grinning. He grabbed her hand and started running, she quickly reacting and running with him- the flush that she tried hiding only growing brighter.

Naruto sat up against one of the three logs, trying to catch his breath. That was a long way to run he thought, and half wondered why Hinata wasn't in the same state. Then again, she was wearing a lighter sweatshirt than normal, and it was much lighter than his jacket. Hinata, who was now sitting next to Naruto, was trying not to laugh once again at Naruto. He looked up her and gave a smile "well I'm glad it was an easy run for you," he teased sarcastically.

Hinata just smiled back, deciding to tease him for once "well if you didn't eat so much ramen, maybe it wouldn't be too hard for you,"

Naruto glared at her darkly "Don't. Knock. The ramen!"

Hinata giggled, "I think after beating you so bad I get the right to,"

"Oh, now you're just asking to start a war,"

"Yeah, probably. But at least we know that I'll win it anyway," she defended with a smirk.

Naruto just folded his arms and looked away. She had him beat there. Now that she mentioned it, he had to figure out he was gonna beat her. Otherwise he'd never be able to go against Sasuke, not if he couldn't beat Hinata after fighting her as many times as he did. Naruto looked over to her "so Hinata, why did you become so shy in the first place?" he asked. It was something he always wondered. Seeing as they were partners now, he figured if she wanted to answer, it'd be a good time to ask.

Hinata looked at him for a moment before answering. How could _he_ not be shy? He never grew up with parents, or any family for that matter. At least she could say she had one. "Well, when I was young I often messed up. And because of it, my father kind of shunned me. I was never any use, so I closed up to save everyone else and myself the trouble of me getting in the way," she explained, telling someone her past for the first time. She wasn't used to this; someone wondering about her past, and her actually telling them. Though she wasn't used to it, it was nice. She felt like someone was finally concerned about how she felt, and what was going through her mind. When the fact that it was Naruto that was concerned came to mind, she just couldn't help but feel happy. "I don't get it. You've never had a family, yet you're always so optimistic, how?" she couldn't stop her self from asking, instantly fearing that she may offend him.

"Well, for the very reason actually. I want to prove that I can take care of myself, and that I'm not a pushover, or failure like everyone else tends to think. And once I become Hokage, then everyone will respect me, and I'll finally be recognized as more than just Kyuubi." He hung his head. "I get so sick of seeing that same cold stare from everyone everyday. Although it's less frequent ever sense I came back from training with Ero-sennin, it still occurs everyday, and I just can't wait till I can do something about it."

"Sorry Naruto, I didn't mean to get on a touchy subject," Hinata apologized, feeling bad now that Naruto seemed depressed.

"It's alright Hinata! Don't worry" he reassured with a smile.

"If you say so Naruto," Hinata quietly replied, still feeling bad. They sat there silently for a few moments. Naruto thinking of his dream, Hinata-wanting to figure out a way to help him achieve it.

After a good twenty minutes the silence was broke, and to Naruto's surprise, it was Hinata who broke it. "I got it!" she almost yelled, standing before Naruto now

"Got what?" He asked, flinching from her sudden yell, and the broken silence.

"I know what we can do!"

"For what though, Hinata?"

"Our training! I'm gonna help you form and unbeatable jutsu! It'll be like shadow clones, but much more complex, and completely potent in any fight!"

Naruto looked at her confused and shocked. He never thought Hinata would use a loud voice, especially for so long "A new Bunshin?" He asked, now fully interested

"Right!"

"What kind of Bunshin?"

"Your Rasengan! We'll find a way to make a clone out of it!"

Naruto's eyes grew wide. A Rasengan Bunshin-was that even possible? They were completely different types of Ninjutsu, so how could they be combined? Naruto stood up and asked her if she could explain how she planned on forming this new clone idea of hers. Though in vain, her only reply was that they'd take it step by step. Naruto stood there confused for a moment, then nodded "Alright, lets go for it then!" he agreed with his knucklehead-grin "where do we begin?"

She first had them stand a good distance from each other. She then had him form the Rasengan, as her Byakugan activated. Hinata studied the form and flow of his technique for a while, hoping to memorize it to the smallest detail. Once she had it fairly well memorized she had him break it, so she could explain the second step. Naruto did as ordered and released his Rasengan, walking a bit closer to her so he could fully listen to her.

"Alright. When you went through the steps of learning that jutsu, what were they?" she asked, having a theory in her mind

"Well first I had to pop a balloon with my chakra, then I had to take a water balloon and spin the chakra so it popped the balloon its self. And finally I had channel my chakra into another balloon, and swirl my chakra t, but I wasn't aloud to pop the balloon at all."

"I see, so the methods were chakra conjuration, manipulation, and control." She evaluated. It was just as she thought "I hate to say it, but you're gonna have to unlearn that in order to perform what I had in mind. Or at least the third step" she informed.

"Why?"

She gave a slight smile, "you're gonna have to have a lot less control, and you're gonna need to have more all at the same time,"

"How does that work?"

"You're gonna have to loosen your control so that it wont hold it's current form, but at the same time- you need more because you're gonna have to bend it to your will"

Now it made sense to him "Alright I got you now!"

She giggled as she told him to reform the Rasengan. Naruto did as told. Once the Rasengan was formed, Hinata's next step was for him to loosen the form of it, without it breaking-her Byakugan active again to watch the flow.

Naruto closed his eyes, memorizing how his chakra was flowing through him, and thinking carefully about how he formed, and held the Rasengan. Once he could visualize the pattern of his chakra, he concentrated harder, sending pulses of extra chakra, in which he disrupted the flow just as needed. After a few times, he was able to loosen his concentration, and still keep the pulses going though it. They both watched the Rasengan, watching the disruptions appearing every time Naruto sent a pulse of extra chakra.

Now that he had that done, he close his eyes once again, concentrating to keep the pulses going through the sphere, but also trying to take control of the chakra inside the sphere, which would allow him to alter the form, but still hold the jutsu. He continued sending in his chakra, and eventually gained control of the core, allowing him absolute control over if the jutsu held together or not. He slowly started to break down the form of the core of the sphere, only to have it break, and blow back in his face and causing him to curse inside his head. "I messed up…" He grimaced.

Hinata giggled "No, That was fine Naruto, Really," She countered with a smile. "Try it again, only this time, hold the core together and mold the tendrils of chakra coming from the core. When you mold them, trying making them form the Rasengan form around your hand, without getting your hand caught in the Rasengan itself," She instructed.

As told, Naruto formed a third Rasengan and started sending the chakra pulses throughout the constructed sphere. His eyes shot open, the Kyuubi's iris now present. Very slowly, and ever so slightly one of the chakra tendrils in the sphere started moving and reforming itself. It only reformed so much until the wind of the Rasengan subdued and clung closer to the core. Hinata saw that Naruto started to panic and smiled, encouraging him that it was supposed to do that and that he was to keep doing what he was doing.

Without the wind around the chakra, he was able to control it so much easier. The tendril gently wrapped around his index finger, molding to it tightly. Naruto grinned in satisfaction as he started working the on the second tendril. This time, at the smallest shiver of the chakra, the Rasengan shattered, smoke rising from the Shinobi's palm. Naruto leaned back, falling into a sitting position and gasped in exhaustion. "Hi… Hinata…" He panted "This takes more out of me than I thought it would," He finished through gasps of breath.

Hinata giggled softly and nodded. "That's ok Naruto, the sun is setting anyway, we should head back to the village soon," she observed.

Naruto sighed in relief to the sound of calling it a day, and pulled himself up off of the ground, grinning over at her as he did so "Right! Want me to walk you home again Hinata?"

Hinata nodded, smiling wide "I'd love for you to Naruto," She accepted.

The bright orange-pink sunset flared across the vast sky, causing the two teens to turn and stare. Hinata's cheeks instantly turned into a dark crimson flush from sharing the view of a sunset with Naruto, and Naruto… Was as oblivious as ever. Silence over took the two, as it so frequently did, only this silence was much less awkward than before. Naruto was over-taken by the sunset, and Hinata was too lost in thought to even notice that they had become silent.

'_Naruto… if… only I could tell you "I love you". That always used to course through my head, but now… I'm not as anxious for you to know. You'll figure it out eventually, and maybe by the time that you do- you'll want to say the same thing to me…_' Hinata thought, her eyes slowly shifting from the now-twilight sky to Naruto, who was still gazing in awe at the sight of the sunset he had just witnessed.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata said softly, trying to grasp his attention.

"Yes Hinata?"

"C'mon dazey-boy, lets head home," She teased with a giggle before grabbing his hand confidently for the first time and leading him down the path to the village.


End file.
